


Rope Burns

by CALira



Series: Aaron and Eric walking through the dead. [1]
Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Boy Boy, Domestic, M/M, drugged behavior, excessive introspection, hand kissing, man man, nauseating sweetness, wound care
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-25
Updated: 2015-05-25
Packaged: 2018-04-01 04:55:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,430
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4006597
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CALira/pseuds/CALira
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Set after Episode 5-11, Distance</p><p>Playing around with domesticality, nurturing, doting, and relationship interactions. Also, addressing an observation that has been driving me nuts:</p><p>Did Eric ever notice Aaron's damaged wrists?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Rope Burns

Aaron struggled to maneuver Eric through the house and into the bedroom. The man was a menace on those crutches and all Aaron wanted was to make him lie down and get some rest. He found himself wishing once again that the infirmary had only given Eric a half dose of whatever the hell it was that had trashed his motor skills and sent him snorkeling the ozone.

Aaron thought to himself, ' _I should have just carried him_.'

Although not a giddy man by nature, a sudden mental image made him laugh, ' _Carry my virginal ginger bride over the threshold.'_ Exhaustion had him a little punchy.

He gently took Eric's crutches and put a steadying arm around his drugged and injured partner. Leaning the supports against the wall, Aaron turned his face just as Eric realized that he wasn't sitting down after all, but probably should be and decided to take the initiative and seat himself on the bed. Aaron lunged forward and grabbed Eric by the shoulders, preventing him from toppling over backwards almost onto and then completely off the edge of the bed.

Aaron seated Eric firmly on the bed working him gently into the mattress to secure his seating. His befuddled copperhead boyfriend looked around himself with a furrowed brow.

Eric's coffee dark eyes brightened suddenly, “Oh.” From his flight aboard Vicadin Airlines, Eric managed to add, “Than-keyayuo, Babe..ron".

'... _and there go the verbal skills_ ,' Aaron sighed to himself. He decided against trusting the chestnut foal of a man with gravity, and kept his steadying hands on Eric's wandering shoulders.

Dopey eyes glistening and stoned lips puckering, Eric craned his neck toward his shoulder trying to kiss one of Aaron's sun dried hands. He stopped just short of his goal and frowned. Encircling Aaron's wrist was an ugly dark line with a menacing blue halo.

"What the?" Eric's eyes narrowed under their knitted brows, "lemmeseetha".

He clumsily gripped Aaron's forearm and brought it closer to his slightly crossed eyes for a better look.

Up close he saw a nasty bruised and scabbed abrasion that had cut into the flesh of Aaron's firm wrist. Eric blinked rapidly and shook his head.

"You got tied up again?" He grabbed Aaron's other forearm and stared at the matching wounds.

Eric's pale, elongated face began to transition through varying shades of blotchy red. His voice a low rumble he said, "Who the hell did thi..." He stopped and shook his head harder.

"Yeah. Yeah of course. It was..." Nose wrinkled, he rolled his eyes with a sneer, "...Them."

Umber eyes flaring darkly, he continued, "Paranoid ingret... ingray-ted pricks at uh, wha?...the barn wazzit?" He blinked rapidly for a few moments as his indignant concern for Aaron overrode his chemically induced stupor.

Eric's voice grew thick, "They look evil." Gingerly touching one of the discolored wounds with a pale fingertip he asked, "Doo tey hurt much?"

Before Aaron could think of an answer that wouldn't upset his partner, Eric bolted upright. "Ooo, wai. Yeah. Yeah, way-tuh. " He gestured excitedly as a semblance of focus rose up through the ether and into his shining eyes. "Look what I get.. got! from Doc - for your roped burns."

Leaning energetically to one side, he reached for something in his pants pocket. Keeling drastically, Eric's listing body bumped into the barrier of Aaron's bent leg – a hasty save fixed in place by a sudden booted foot on the mattress. Leaning against Aaron's warm and hearty leg, Eric was oblivious to all except the sounds of cartoon growls and huffing nostrils that he himself made in struggling with his pocket.

His hand cleared the pocket with a solid wrench. Waving a small jar triumphantly in the air, "Aha, got you! You little..."

He swayed uncontrollably and quickly closed his eyes. He splayed his elegant hands in the air in front of him, waiting for his brain to catch up with his body. Completely unaware that waiting out the waning dizziness had him rubbing his torso along the length of Aaron's unguarded inner thigh, Eric innocently drove his usually placid and unflappable partner insane. Aaron's eyelids spasmed and he punitively clamped his strong teeth down on his full bottom lip. He hoped the slight pain would help him maintain focus on Eric's voice and not the man's gift for blindly soliciting arousal with the slightest damned innocent gesture.

Eric opened his twinkling eyes and smiled ethereally "That's better.'' He sat upright and Aaron thankfully returned his foot to the floor. Billowing the material of his pant leg with his hand, the tea-leaf brunette vented the steam from an inseam grown much too warm.

His thoughts ran as hot as his inner thigh. ' _If the rotten little tease was more lucid I'd jump him right here and now._ ' It had been a long couple of days. Aaron ached in so many different ways. The worst of which came from his ribs that felt bruised by the hollow echo ricocheting in his chest from missing Eric during those endless few hours they had been apart.

His hormone infused mind worked overtime, ' _It is wrong to ravage the doped up and injured. It is wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong_.'

The mantra helped him ride out the tidal surge of arousal despite Eric suddenly and unwittingly being very sweet and happy and cute ... yet again.

Eric was bouncing his crimson on ivory head and rocking his individual shoulders back and forth in a silly little Muppet happy dance. "Ok. Yeah." He looked up at Aaron "Is good." Aaron couldn't help but chuckle.

Through the wispy vestiges of fog still lingering in his mind, Eric accidentally over-reached for Aaron's arms and grabbed them much more roughly than he intended.

"Yikes!" He jumped and dropped the arms as if they had just screamed in protest.

"Oops." He looked at Aaron with a pathetically sad look of contrition. "I'm so sorry".

Aaron gave him a loving, patient smile. "It’s ok", he chuffed. He had never been able to remain angry at his amber prince. Just one guileless look and Eric was forgiven anything.

"Ohhh, Air-bear.” Aaron's athletic body twitched slightly at the use of the pet name Eric usually reserved for cozier times when Aaron was much too distracted to complain. He loved that name.

“Thankuh-yu.” Eric's eyes sparkled brightly over a lippy little smile.

“Now. Gimme'em here." He slowly and deliberately reached for Aaron's relaxed hands again with the single-minded focus of a bomb squad tech approaching a suspiciously ticking Rottweiler.

Aaron had been injured much worse than this in his life and he didn't want Eric wasting his flagging strength worrying about superficial flesh wounds. However, he knew there was no point in arguing with the lit taper candle when he was in nurturing mode. And since Aaron always more than enjoyed the feeling of Eric's smooth hands against his scarred, weather roughened skin, Aaron gave in and laid his hands on Eric's platformed lap.

Unscrewing the top of the small jar of salve, Eric delicately dabbed it with long thin fingers over the track of Aaron's wounds. A few centimeters along, he stopped and looked up at his patient. Dazzled by the liquid beauty of the gray-blue eyes staring back at him, Eric blushed like a mooning schoolgirl. Recovering himself he asked, "I'm not hurtedling you am I?"

Aaron shook his head full of immovable curls and in a soft voice answered, "No. It feels pretty good."

In fact, Eric's touch was so light against the sensitive skin that the only proof he had even touched Aaron at all was the glistening salve meandering crookedly around his wrists.

Eric beamed at him before returning to his ministrations. Bent over his own lap his hands moved slowly and deliberately like a watch maker in his shop. At one point, his eyes closed and his delicate white hands stopped moving to hover in place. A beat passed. He shook his head once and continued spreading the salve. Eventually, he completed the circuits around Aaron's wrists.

Pulling a roll of gauze bandage out of his coat pocket, he looked up at Aaron and winked, "Shh. Doc doane know abough-tiss."

Somewhere between shock and panic, Aaron's smokey quicksilver eyes flashed. "What!" he quickly scanned the windows. In a lowered voice he asked,”Are you freaking kidding me?”

“Relax, Cub Scout.” With a wicked twisty smirk, “Yes, kidding. You remememender ... joking?” Eric reached into another coat pocket and pulled out a well used Swiss Army knife.

Almost to himself he continued, “Asked Doc fordit like a good little-d boy.” Fingering the notch on one of the many blades in the multi-tool knife, he suddenly remembered something, “Hey! He still owes me a lollipop.” He shrugged it off with a nonchalant, “Eh. I'll live.”

Having no luck unfolding the knife blade, he opted instead to cut the bandages with the tiny scissors that were tucked between the other Swiss tools of survivalist survival.

Not looking up, he began genially, "Heh. Check it out! Finally get to make use the weird little scissors. I should pra-ba-bably use a simpler pocket knife. Basic...ker. Less frou frou."

With a single burst of laughter, "Heh. Frou frou."

He grinned inanely, "Maybe saying “frou frou” deserves me a knife with manicure scissors. At least its not got - Ha! That rhymes - What was I... ?

“Oh. Yeah, it doansent-have a spork or anything el-selesly like stupid weird." Eric took a deep desperate breath that raised his face up to see Aaron staring at him with those amused mist-blue eyes and the shadow of a smirk on his full lips. Eric's pale gold eyebrows arched high, displacing his lightly freckled forehead, "Talking twomusch. Right?"

Enamored of how disarming his cardinal chatterbox could be, Aaron answered, "Yeah. But don't ever stop”

Eric blushed and his wide sweet lips parted slightly with a breathy coo. His hand absently brushed against Aaron's hands still in his lap. He reluctantly pulled his gaze slowly away from Aaron's loving face and back onto the fresh bandages over the torn wrists.

Eric had another blinking fit and pursed his lips “Uh, I forgetted to tape, so” picking up the cut end of one of the bandages he started singing,

"Bunnies go throughsies the loopies today. In the merry merry merry month - of day...” his voice trailed off into a pleased tuneless hum.

“Tada! - wrapped up all cozynice."

Eric was tucking the free ends of the gauze under the crooked but secure self knots, when Aaron gently took the elegant hands in his own roughened ones. Raising them to his wind chapped lips, he planted a small kiss between each slender alabaster finger and its own jutting knuckle.

Eric's heart soared again, his puppy brown eyes glassy with idolatry "Ohh. That's sooo sweet.”

Aaron's wholesome features harbored a look of deep concern and heartache, "Why do you worry more about my little scrapes instead of your broken bones?”

Eric gasped in exaggerated shock, "But, worrying about me is _your_ job." He feigned innocence, battening his saffron lashes and smiling that twisty little smirk of his.

"...and you do it suhwehll that its would be rude to interfee-are." Landing a flat hand against his narrow chest with a thud, he added, “I, sir, am a freakin' gentleman."

Aaron chuckled despite himself. He gently recaptured Eric's hands and brought them to his weary face. The lambswool brunette lightly pressed his lips to each white palm in turn before stroking the bundled hands across his weathered cheek.

Eric raised his eyes in roughly Aaron's direction, "Besides, worrying about _u-z_ my job and itzit the best...test job in the world. I get to may-k'yu smile and laugh and happy and relax and free...” Out of steam and low on descriptive words, Eric took an extravagant breath, his lips vibrating noisily on the exhale.

He continued, "I get too-you make u-twobee you.” He shrugged a shoulder and added, “Ok, so only when we're alone, but thahtsisis even better. The real you is alllll mine.”

Aaron's school boy face fell and he lowered his somber gaze."Sometimes I wonder if my happiness is all that you think about.”

Seeing Aaron's sadness, Eric said lovingly, "Ifahdat's true then itsis the only kind of thoughtseds I ever even always want...to think."

Eric's thumbs lightly stroked the bandages on the russet curly-top's wrist. "You know, your gonna halfata to stop getting tiy-up. The rope burns are making people talk suspiciously talk.”

He looked up into Aaron's pensive face. Leaning inward conspiratorially, Eric whispered, “I think Doc half-way beliefs we're over here having too some kinky kinda sex.”

Eric tilted his head coquettishly." It would be a shame to make him be wrong, Doan'teeya think?” His eyes were more closed than open and his ability to enunciate was in rapid decline as all traces of adrenaline drained from his system and allowed the pharmaceutical veil to fall upon him once again in deep rich folds.

Nevertheless, Eric tried valiantly to rally Aaron to the task, "aw, c'maaahhhn.” Yawning wide and showing off his uvula, he added in a sweetly seductive voice, “You could practice summa-yore old boy scouts knot-sus."

Aaron thought it over, "Hmm, tempting.”

He focused his steel gray eyes on Eric's face gauging his scarlet gentleman's general level of lucidity. After a short pause, he shook his head and continued, “Nah. Let's wait until you've been cleared for landing. Too easy like this. I like a challenge"… _and a_ _conscious_ _playmate_ , he added to himself.

Eric pouted out his wide inviting lips, "Spoiles-port...” he sighed. “ Eh, Ok" He eddied the air around him with a rapid flapping of his coat before struggling through the mechanics of taking it off altogether.

Aaron rose to his feet quickly and with an adoring, yet thoroughly amused, breath he chuffed, "Here. Let me." He slipped the jacket off Eric's wiry body. The groggy redhead beamed at him again, a look that spoke of the world orbiting Aaron's soul and not just the room in full ellipse.

Aaron inhaled deeply, "Alright now. Let's get you comfy." He knelt on the floor at Eric's feet and began unlacing his remaining boot. As he slipped it off the narrow foot he felt something on his head. It was Eric's hands stroking his autumn brown hair, playing with the fleecy nap. Alternatively scrunching the shorn curls through his delicate fingers and smoothing it all back down with his cloud-white palms.

Aaron looked back up at him, an enchanted sparkle shinning through his smoke gray eyes, "Hmmm?"

Eric's line of vision shifted to Aaron's face. With a goofy smile floating beneath tired, bleary eyes he said in a voice just this side of a whisper, "Soft."

Aaron's lips curled up at the corners in a Seussian Grinch smile. Barely suppressing the accompanying laugh he responded politely, "Thank you."

Attention back at his task, he pulled off Eric's lone sock taking extra care not to bump the cast on the other leg. With a chipper, "Ok, up you go", Aaron scooped his arms under Eric's unreasonably sturdy legs and swung them gently onto the bed.

Half settled and balanced on one elbow, Eric reached for Aaron's muscled arm. With a soft squeeze, he asked, "Stay with me?"

Aaron's response was deeply heart-felt ... "Absolutely..."

as well as a sincere promise “....and even forever after that".

“Till I fall asleep wuhdud-bee a first good start.” He fought courageously against the increasing gravity pulling on his eyelids, only to succumb to the superior force.

Aaron wedged himself between Eric's thin frame and the thick padding of the headboard. His intention to gently settle Eric onto the bed against his lap was quickly thwarted. With a speed belying that expected of a slim and injured man still whacked out on painkillers, Eric hijacked the proceedings and immediately snuggled himself onto Aaron's side. Wrapping himself around the well defined arm, he rested his head against the curly topped brunette's broad shoulder. Surprised by the sudden activity, Aaron had paused in mid movement, but now he dropped his free arm around Eric's lithe body with a quiet chuckle.

Holding him close he smiled at the mental image of an Aaron-shaped stuffed toy that toddler Eric had to have with him before he would take his nap. ' _My sweet baby man-boy_ '', he thought to himself as he smoothed down the disheveled silken red hair. He replaced his protective arm around the love of his life and gave him a gentle squeeze before kissing the top of that lovely head.

Eric's breathing settled into an even steady rhythm. The cadence comforted Aaron more than he thought possible. Warmth radiated off his boyfriend's fragile broken body up through Aaron's arms and straight into his heart.

Aaron's eyes stung with emotion. He had done this to Eric. Guilt ground into him as he admitted to himself that Eric was injured because Aaron selfishly wanted him by his side at all times.

Eric was the touchstone for Aaron's sanity. He kept him stable in a world where that no longer had any meaning. His mere presence reminded Aaron that he had his own identity separate from the benevolent and altruistic veneer that he presented to the world. Without that, the real Aaron would remain hidden away in the dark and left to die. Only Eric could pull that man back into the light. Aaron couldn't lose that.

Beyond that need, Aaron loved Eric with a heart-aching depth. It had taken a long, lonely stretch of time to find him and nothing was ever going to take Eric away from him. He consequently developed a near psychotic need to keep his partner safe and near.

Eric came from the boyfriend factory with a full set of urban based survival skills that had helped him stay alive in his  forbidding and barbarous childhood and on through adulthood. For Aaron to keep Eric, he needed to give him a new skill set specifically designed to survive the demilitarized zones and devastated communities of Aaron's world.

Although Eric asked to be trained, Aaron knew that he had agreed too readily to the request. To his great shame, agreeing to oversee Eric's education on the matter was less about arming Eric and more about not-letting-go of Mr. Right and keeping him all for himself.

Still, Aaron _had_ agreed and so he trained Eric to be a trusted and effective partner in the field. His coveted redhead had remained safe by his side in several of the most hostile parts of the old world. That world was gone and Eric was still surviving at his side.

He had risked ruining Eric's kind heart and gentle soul with that training and the following field work. Somehow Eric had managed to stay happy, sweet and lovable in the face of all that being in the wilds with Aaron had done to him. Seeing that strength and resilience in him emboldened Aaron to push their luck and continue gambling with Eric's life in this new apocalyptic venue.

He had to acknowledge to himself that he put Eric in danger with every single recruiting run. Eric always held his own and still managed to retain his true self in the face of violence, uncertainty and the undead. However, perhaps inevitably, the day hit when the game went sour and the dice came up foul. This last trip had almost cost Eric his life - and Aaron his Eric. The folly of risking so much so casually was a sin for which he had to atone, and that meant he couldn't let Eric go out there anymore.

Aaron's own eyelids were falling as he felt himself wind down. There was a maelstrom waiting to be unleashed when he informed Eric of his decision. But that could sit in the bunker until tomorrow. He wasn't going to waste this time together. Right now, he had Eric in his arms - nothing else mattered and no one else existed in this so called world.

He yawned wearily and rested his cheek on top of Eric's head.

A very sleepy and distant voice drifted up to him, "I love you." A heartbeat later, the same small voice, still stoned off its ass, added, "Lotses".

Aaron's fog bright eyes watered again as he smiled wistfully. "I love you lots, too." He hugged Eric harder, drawing him in closer. "Now, shut up and go to sleep."

With that, Aaron drifted off to sleep lulled by the sound of a soft, silly giggle meant only for him.

**Author's Note:**

> First attempt at writing down the fan fic like notions floating around in my head.
> 
> I had questions.
> 
> You could read about them, should you wish, at tumblr. 
> 
> Block out some time first, I can't shut up.  
> My posts are almost as wordy as my fiction. 
> 
> Long-winded and opinionated.
> 
> Enjoy.
> 
> deadbrainwalking  
> The Thinking Dead


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